Will…You Marry Me

Chapter 1: The Will

“Jamie, you’re already twenty-seven and your birthday is coming up. Don’t you think it’s about time you settle down?” asked Jenni, my happily married sister with three kids.

I raised my eyebrow, “Jen, how many times have you asked me this question?”

“And how many times have you not given me a straight answer. Jamie, I’m just thinking of you. You know you can’t have kids when you’re old. Becoming pregnant will become tedious if you marry late.”

“Then I’ll adopt.” I answered jokingly. Jen frowned. She really has no sense of humor.

“Adopting a child is different. Anyway, raising a child by your self is too cumbersome. Not to mention, with that kind of lifestyle, you won’t be able to raise a child properly.” Jen added.

“Jen, you’re overanalyzing the situation. In order for me to get pregnant, First, I have to find a guy who would love me and love him back, get married, and down with the honeymoon.See Jen, I’m too busy with my work. I just can’t see the word ‘DATING’ in my daily planner.” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

“That’s exactly my point. You should go out more often. Meet decent men for goodness sake. Let me seen now, I think George has some single friends…”

“George? You’re husband George, his friends?” I said, “I don’t think we’ll get along.” Jen’s husband George is the heir to a multi-billion company started by his grandfather. I have nothing bad to say about George. He’s a great father and he dotes on my sister. I just don’t like the way that his parents treat my family. I don’t think they think we’re worthy for their son.“See? You’re just too picky with men. Didn’t you had that guy you were dating before? What’s his name Michael or Mike?”

“We stopped seeing each other. It turned out he’s younger than me. You know how I hate dating younger men, makes me feel like I’m their mother.” I answered exasperated.

“You really ought to rethink that.” Jen’s words were cut off by the ring from my phone.

“Sorry, it’s mom.” I answered the phone and was met by my mom’s panicked voice on the other end. “What? Grandfather is in the hospital! He had a heart attack. Okay, I’m with Jen we’ll go down there immediately.” I hung up and looked at Jen. We paid for our meal and left the restaurant. I drove us to St. Luke’s General Hospital.

When we arrived, we found grandfather breathing slower than the usual. There are so many tubes connected to his body. I felt tears form in my eyes, my grandfather who would scold me for not waking up early and jogging with him in the park is now confined to this bed where his life depends on machines.

“Has he wakened up yet?” Jen asked.

“No, he’s still sleeping. The doctor said that he’s not yet safe. They said that his heart may have returned to normal but the rest of his body is still suffering from various complications.”

“Mom, you should go home and rest. I’ll look after him.” I offered.

“Honey, I’m afraid we might lose him.” My mom broke into silent sobs. I embraced her, “I’m scared too but we should be strong. If gramps can hear us now he’ll scold us for being overdramatic.” Memories of gramps brought more tears to our eyes.

“I’ll take you home. This isn’t good for both of you.” Jen added.

Grandfather stayed in the hospital for a month. He went in and out of the operating room and the more operations he had the weaker he becomes. On my birthday, I saw my grandfather smile. He looked at me then asked me to come closer. In a raspy voice he greeted me a happy birthday and called me his little warrior. Tears came rolling down my eyes. He hasn’t called me his little warrior since I moved out of our house. I held his hand and gave it a kiss. I felt his hand go limp and the heart monitor beeping radically. The doctors and nurses barged in the room and carted him off to the emergency room. That’s the last time I saw him alive.

On the day of his funeral, his lawyer came to us and informed us of a fortune that my grandfather has gathered during his years. Turns out my grandfather invested a small fortune into a company that quadrupled his profits.

“Father never told me he invested in such companies.” My mom said.

“Now I remember. There was this time when I was jogging with gramps, I saw him hand over a bag of money to this man in a business suit.” I added.

“Well, Mr. Ong has become the major shareholder of the company and the company is worth over several millions. Also, he had purchased several lots for your family.”

I saw my mom, she lost all color in her face so did my father. The lawyer continued to tell us the various savings my grandfather made in his lifetime. Turns out he was some kind of investing genius. I smiled secretly admiring my grandfather. He’s still taking care of us even though he already passed away.

“But there is a clause that he personally added to his last will and testament. It says here that his money is to be equally distributed to his children and grandchildren but will only be given to them if one of his granddaughters marries the grandson of Jason Lucas. Mr. Ong said that he and Mr. Lucas were lifelong friends and he owes his life to him. That’s why they arranged their families to one day join together. If this is not accomplished within a month after his death, all assets will be given to charity and no one will receive anything.”

All of us were silenced. We all looked shocked especially me. Since Jen is already married that leaves me to be the only granddaughter left. My whole family turned to look at me. I was the first to speak, “That’s insane. That’s absolutely insane. Are you sure it says granddaughter and not great granddaughter?” I asked.

“No, he specified that he wants his granddaughter to marry the grandson of Jason Lucas. He actually made this will a week before he was hospitalized. He actually said that a Jamie Ong must be married to Daniel Lucas.”

“Me? Grandfather wants me to marry within a month?”

“Jamie, you don’t need to do this.” My mother said.

“But you have to remember that the fate of all your grandfather’s assets will rely on your decision.” My father added.

“Jamie, we don’t really need the money; but if we do get the assets, mom and dad wouldn’t have to work anymore. You know they’re getting old.” Jen added.

“Do I have to make a decision now?” I asked Mr. Liam.

“No, but you’ll need to inform me by the end of this week so I can contact the Lucas’. Fortunately, if you ever decide to marry Daniel he will be subjected to the same thing because Mr. Lucas has also made the same decision.”

“I have to go.” I abruptly left without saying goodbye to any of my relatives. “I don’t even have a boyfriend and now I’m supposed to get married in a month?!”

I called my best friend, Kevin and asked him to meet me at my place. “Kevin, they want me to marry! Marry, Kevin! Marry!”

“Calm down, Jamie. Is there no other way to work around this clause?” he asked.

“Don’t you think I wouldn’t ask? There is no way out but to get married!” I ranted.

“Are you sure?” he asked again.

“Kevin.” I answered looking at him.

“Okay. Well, if that’s the case and if it turns out you don’t like this guy I say don’t get married.”

“But mom and dad wouldn’t get their shares. I don’t want them breaking there backs anymore.”

“Then get married.”

“Kevin! You’re not helping!”

“What do you want me to do Jamie?! Who are you going to marry anyway?” he asked.

“I didn’t really pay attention. I heard something about Lucas, no….wait, Daniel Lucas.”

“Lucas?” he repeated, “Daniel Lucas?”

“What? Do you know him?” I asked. I walked over to my fridge and took out two bottles of beer. “Here.” I handed Kevin one.

“Jamie, Daniel Lucas is a famous lawyer. He works for Fortune 500 companies and he also has celebrity clients. We’ve been introduced before he seemed like a nice guy.”

“I don’t care if he works for the president! I don’t want to get married!” I took big long gulps of the beer.

“Jamie, calm down. Get some sleep; we’ll talk about this first thing in the morning.” Kevin took the bottle from me and steered me into my bedroom. “C’mon take a shower and I’ll wait for you outside.” He handed me a towel and steered me to the bathroom.

I walked to my living room and saw Kevin watching a Korean movie. He’s a subtitled movie junkie. He loves watching anything with subtitles. It’s actually quite adorable considering Kevin’s a powerful attorney. I sat beside him, “What’s that called?”

“My Little Bride. It’s about a graduating college student and a high school freshman that has an arranged marriage. Who would think these things could ever happen in real life?” he joked.

I grabbed the pillow next to me and threw it on his face. “Not funny.” I prepared popcorn and sat next to him.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked. I shook my head then he placed his hand on mine and watched the movie together.

Author’s Note: I’m reposting this chapter because my good friend has edited it for me. Thanks!